The monsoon session is done and dusted and barring a small session that the government may well press for, before the poll bugle is blown, this was pretty much a no holds barred session, when the opposition made one final lunge in red flagging issues it can go to town with. And while the ruling BJP managed to save itself the blushes completely, there was a quiet but firm thinking that the issues raised, needed introspection, understanding and course correction. In fact in an organisation meeting held towards the fag end of the session, the ‘sanghathan’ big wigs asked the ruling party not to ignore these issues raised and do backend course correction. While there was no specific feedback on which issues were handpicked, it is evident that those related to misappropriation of funds and excessive expenditure were put on the mantle piece for checks.
While we have listed critical issues which the government needs to handle, over and above the big ticket ones that they need to grapple with and settle, in our special page 2 package, it’s important to flag them for the purposes of this discussion.
While the much larger issues of the state’s finances, its mounting debt and the big worry areas of job and investment creation which has fallen short of expectation. There are several micro issues of immense significance.
The Goa Cooperative Bank scam where properties secured against bad loans are auctioned at throw away prices, have a direct impact on investor sentiment. Secondly the GSIDC which is handling almost all of Goa’s big ticket projects has the scar of overpaying its consultants. Then the baggage of the SEZ allotment of the previous government is an albatross around the neck of this government. While it has said that it is engaging in backroom discussions with SEZ promoters to keep a part of the land allotted to them (which the High Court has declared “in a manner not known to law) and return the rest, the SEZ Virodhi Manch has asked for all land to be taken back by the government, through litigation if need be. According to them SEZ promoters if they need land should come back and join the queue.
Some local issues also generated a lot of heat like leasing out old building of the Sanquelim Primary Health Centre to an institute run by BJP MLA. So did emotive ones like the proposal to nationalize the inland water ways.
The onus is now on the government to go beyond Assembly replies and engage with the people of Goa on all these issues of public concern and consternation. Remember that the people’s parliament, which will be in session every day till polling day of 2017, will debate, discuss and seek answers to each of these and beyond. And this is where there will be no limit on the questions or the time taken to ask them.
Across Goa, the great exercise of turf protection and turf snatching has commenced which will make the Assembly session seem like a tame backdrop or a trailer of the real battle ahead.
